H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt or private CPA?

We used to have a retired IRS agent do our taxes but he's retired at age 80, leaving us with no references. Should we seek another private tax preparer or go with a chain? What's the difference?

You need to interview whoever does your taxes before they do them.

See if they ask you the same questions your retired guy did? See if they know your typical forms/schedules.

When you go into a chain store the first time, it's luck of the draw. You may get someone who has experience and plenty of knowledge (CPAs, EAs, former IRS people work at these places too) or you may get someone who is just out of the water (having taken an 11 week course). Feel free to say I don't think you can handle it.

Ditto for going elsewhere...but keep in mind that an EA is often a cheap way to ensure better knowledge. The EA doesn't necessarily have the same accounting background as a CPA, but passed a test that focused solely on tax issues. The EA has to take annual training to keep his or her designation.

since you have access to the internet i would suggest that you try preparing your taxes yourself, it is pretty simple

Learn to do it yourselves! There is enough information out there. www.IRS.gov is a great resource.

How complex is your tax return? Do you have a lot of 1099's, dividends, interest, foreign interest, rental property, farm, capital gains or losses? Carryovers? Self-employment? If you have a return that you could not sit down and figure it out yourself, then I would get my records from the retired CPA and seek another one. I would ask friends or some of your neighbors, or people who are you believe might be in your income bracket who they use. Having years of prior records makes is so much easier to prepare a tax return. A CPA can also help you with future financial planning that you may want to talk to about that may determine what you do tax planning now.

This is from the IRS website at irs.gov:

"ItвЂ™s important for taxpayers to find qualified tax professionals if they need help preparing and filing their tax returns.
Unqualified tax preparers may overlook legitimate deductions or credits that could cause clients to pay more tax than they should. Unqualified preparers may also make costly mistakes causing their clients to incur assessed deficiencies, penalties, and interest. Here are some suggestions to consider when hiring a tax professional:

- A paid preparer must sign the return as required by law.
- Avoid preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than other preparers. If your returns are prepared correctly, every preparer should derive substantially similar numbers.
- Beware of a preparer who guarantees results or who bases fees on a percentage of the amount of the refund. A practitioner may not charge a contingent fee (percentage of your refund) for preparing an original tax return.
- Understand that the most reputable preparers will request to see your receipts and will ask you multiple questions to determine your qualifications for expenses, deductions and other items. By doing so they have your best interest in mind and are trying to help you avoid penalties, interest or additional taxes that could result from an IRS examination.
- Choose a preparer you will be able to contact and one who will be responsive to your needs. Ask who will actually prepare the return before engaging services. Avoid firms where your work may be delegated down to someone with less training or some unknown worker. You should know exactly who works with your tax matters at all times and how to contact him or her; after all, you are paying for it.
- Determine if the preparer is exporting your return to a foreign country for preparation. Foreign countries do not have the same security and privacy laws as the United
- States nor is there any recourse should your information be compromised as a result of lax or nonexistent privacy procedures.
- Investigate whether the preparer has any questionable history with the Better Business Bureau, the stateвЂ™s board of accountancy for CPAs, the stateвЂ™s bar association for attorneys or the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for enrolled agents or the oversight agency in states that license or register tax preparers.
- Determine if the preparerвЂ™s credentials meet your needs or if your state mandates licensing or registration requirements for paid preparers. Is he or she an Enrolled Agent, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Tax Attorney? Only attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents can represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters including audits, collection actions and appeals. Other return preparers may represent taxpayers only in audits regarding a return that they signed as a preparer.
- Find out if the preparer is affiliated with a professional organization that provides or requires its members to pursue continuing education and holds them accountable to a code of ethics.
- Check IRS.gov for information regarding abusive shelters and other tax schemes and scams. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, chances are it is.
- The IRS can help many taxpayers prepare their own returns without the assistance of a paid preparer. Before seeking a paid preparer, taxpayers might consider how much information is available directly from the IRS through the IRS Web site."

Good luck!

Is your tax stuff that complicated? We've used Turbo Tax for the last few years, and it's been pretty easy.

ive gone to h & r block for 12 years now. i like them because of their guarantees and their services that is offered.

I THINK THE BEST OPTION IS TO GO TO H & R BLOCK TO GET YOUR TAXES DONE BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY HELPFUL IN GETTING YOU THE MAXIMUM REFUND. HIRING A CPA IS ADDITIONAL MONEY ALTHOUGH THEY'RE GOOD TOO BUT IF YOU WANT YOUR MONEY FAST YOU SHOULD GO TO H&R BLOCK BECAUSE THEY HAVE OPTIONS ON HOW TO GET YOUR MONEY QUICKER. IT REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW QUICK YOU WANT YOUR MONEY AND HOW MUCH YOU'RE WILLING TO SPEND ON A TAX PREPARER. I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.

PS: I BEEN AN H&R BLOCK CUSTOMER FOR 2YEARS NOW AND TRUST ME I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT AND IN 2007 I MADE APPROXIMATELY $19,000 AND MY FEDERAL WAS DEDUCTED OFF MY CHECK FOR ABOUT $1600 AND I GOT IT ALL BACK THIS YEAR. DOING IT ON YOUR OWN CAN CAUSE ERRORS AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO ADMEND IT AND CAN CAUSE DELAYS WHICH YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT 'TILL JUNE OR SO TO GET YOUR REFUNDS CAUSE THE IRS WILL DO ADMENDED TAXES AFTER EVERYONE IS DONE W/ THEIR TAXES AND ESPECIALLY WHEN TRYIN TO GET YOUR MAXIMUM REFUNDS, THERE ARE OTHER ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS YOU CAN ADD ONTO YOUR REFUNDS TOO. THINK ABOUT IT.

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